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Ryan C
05-10-12, 2:09 pm
Iv heard a lot of bodybuilders use the term 'water retention' and I have a vague idea what it is... can someone please tell me what it means, what it does and how during contest prep to get rid of as much water as possible...

Aggression
05-10-12, 3:45 pm
When someone is really lean, water retention can become an issue with presentation. They will look softer and puffier due to having too much water in their system. This can be from actual water intake or food in general. I don't know too much about the specifics, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in. In the end, if you're not a few weeks out from a show, there's nothing to worry about, as its insignificant. During prep, you can avoid excess water retention by avoiding 'dirty foods'. Eating a strict, clean diet will usually eliminate most of the water retention. As you get near a show, say a week or so out, you can use tactics to drop the rest; diuretics, sodium manipulation, etc. Dropping water is usually how people drop 'weight' so quickly when first starting a diet. If you eat a shit diet and then all of a sudden clean it up to a 'contest prep type diet', you'll drop a great deal of weight within the first week or so, but its only water.

Ryan C
05-10-12, 4:38 pm
When someone is really lean, water retention can become an issue with presentation. They will look softer and puffier due to having too much water in their system. This can be from actual water intake or food in general. I don't know too much about the specifics, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in. In the end, if you're not a few weeks out from a show, there's nothing to worry about, as its insignificant. During prep, you can avoid excess water retention by avoiding 'dirty foods'. Eating a strict, clean diet will usually eliminate most of the water retention. As you get near a show, say a week or so out, you can use tactics to drop the rest; diuretics, sodium manipulation, etc. Dropping water is usually how people drop 'weight' so quickly when first starting a diet. If you eat a shit diet and then all of a sudden clean it up to a 'contest prep type diet', you'll drop a great deal of weight within the first week or so, but its only water.

Ah okay thanks for that... Another question i forgot to ask earlier was after a session, lets say shoulders and tris my triceps and shoulders seem to have this puffy/ soft look that is similar to the descriptionof water retention... Would this be due to more water being present in/ around those muscle bellies and if so why?

Aggression
05-10-12, 5:19 pm
Ah okay thanks for that... Another question i forgot to ask earlier was after a session, lets say shoulders and tris my triceps and shoulders seem to have this puffy/ soft look that is similar to the descriptionof water retention... Would this be due to more water being present in/ around those muscle bellies and if so why?

Some people hold water in different spots. Are you in contest prep?

Ryan C
05-10-12, 5:42 pm
Some people hold water in different spots. Are you in contest prep?

No but when I did a dirty bulk i went from around 7-8% bodyfat at 180lbs to 11-12% bodyfat at 215lbs, and i definately noticed a more 'puffy- soft' look when i was at 215lbs... I plan to come back down to around 8% bodyfat using carb cycling and i do see big fluctuations of the 'puffy- soft' look depending on whether its low carb day or a high carb day and i have always attributed this to 'holding more water'...

BigChrisF
05-10-12, 11:20 pm
What they are referring to is the water that people naturally hold under their skin or "subcutaneously" if you want to use a more technical term. It is just stored water and it is natural. For the show they just want it gone to better show off the muscle.

I'll go ahead and quote myself again.

"...Aldosterone is a hormone that the body uses to regulate water retention for this very purpose. If you don't have a lot of carbohydrates hanging around, it will dump the water it no longer requires. This is actually the idea behind most schemes to cut water weight for weigh ins. You increase water intake and sodium intake a week or so prior. This excess of water and sodium will force water retention, so your body stops secreting the aldosterone and when you stop the the water and sodium you will excrete all of your stored water until your body has a chance to bring the aldosterone levels back up..."

I'm getting some mileage out of that one.

pushin weight
05-11-12, 1:09 pm
What they are referring to is the water that people naturally hold under their skin or "subcutaneously" if you want to use a more technical term. It is just stored water and it is natural. For the show they just want it gone to better show off the muscle.

I'll go ahead and quote myself again.

"...Aldosterone is a hormone that the body uses to regulate water retention for this very purpose. If you don't have a lot of carbohydrates hanging around, it will dump the water it no longer requires. This is actually the idea behind most schemes to cut water weight for weigh ins. You increase water intake and sodium intake a week or so prior. This excess of water and sodium will force water retention, so your body stops secreting the aldosterone and when you stop the the water and sodium you will excrete all of your stored water until your body has a chance to bring the aldosterone levels back up..."

I'm getting some mileage out of that one.

BCF always has some great info to share around here......nice....

Ryan C
05-11-12, 1:18 pm
What they are referring to is the water that people naturally hold under their skin or "subcutaneously" if you want to use a more technical term. It is just stored water and it is natural. For the show they just want it gone to better show off the muscle.

I'll go ahead and quote myself again.

"...Aldosterone is a hormone that the body uses to regulate water retention for this very purpose. If you don't have a lot of carbohydrates hanging around, it will dump the water it no longer requires. This is actually the idea behind most schemes to cut water weight for weigh ins. You increase water intake and sodium intake a week or so prior. This excess of water and sodium will force water retention, so your body stops secreting the aldosterone and when you stop the the water and sodium you will excrete all of your stored water until your body has a chance to bring the aldosterone levels back up..."

I'm getting some mileage out of that one.

Ah okay cheers for that man

Joe J
05-14-12, 3:39 pm
What they are referring to is the water that people naturally hold under their skin or "subcutaneously" if you want to use a more technical term. It is just stored water and it is natural. For the show they just want it gone to better show off the muscle.

I'll go ahead and quote myself again.

"...Aldosterone is a hormone that the body uses to regulate water retention for this very purpose. If you don't have a lot of carbohydrates hanging around, it will dump the water it no longer requires. This is actually the idea behind most schemes to cut water weight for weigh ins. You increase water intake and sodium intake a week or so prior. This excess of water and sodium will force water retention, so your body stops secreting the aldosterone and when you stop the the water and sodium you will excrete all of your stored water until your body has a chance to bring the aldosterone levels back up..."

I'm getting some mileage out of that one.

Very helpful mate, thanks.